\\\m 


UC-NRLF 


B  ^  bis  Mn 

lliiii 

mmm  ^  SPRINGS 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

AT 

ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 


OTHER  BOOKS  BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


The  Political  Opinions  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  $  1  25 

The  German  Element  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley  of  Virginia.  $  2  00 

A  Hislorj'  of  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  $  2  50 


The  above  books  may  be  ordered  from 

RUEBUSH-ELKINS  CO., 

Dayton,  Va., 

or 

JOHN  W.  WAYLAND, 

Harrisonburg,  Va. 


SIDNEY  LANIER. 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

AT 

ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 


Where  and  How  the  "Science  of 
EngUsh  Verse"  was  Written 


A  NEW  CHAPTER  IN  AMERICAN  LETTERS 


By 
JOHN  W.  WAYLAND.  Ph.D. 


RUEBUSH-ELKINS  CO. 

Dayton,  Va. 

1912 


Copyright.  1912, 
By  JOHN  W.  WAYLAND 


Dedication: 

To 

MRS.  MARY  DAY  LANIER 


2i*570G 


IN  THE  SUMMER  LAND. 


^ 


Y  MY  path  the  flowers  are  springing, 

In  the  summer  land; 
Overhead  the  bees  are  winging, 

In  the  summer  land; 
There's  a  song  in  every  tree. 
There's  a  chorus  blithe  and  free,  — 
There's  a  voice  that's  calling  me, 
In  the  summer  land. 

Bonny  brooks  haste  to  the  river, 
In  the  summer  land; 

Miles  of  lances  gleam  and  quiver, 
In  the  summer  land; 

There  are  fragrant  copses  nigh, 

There  are  mountains  blue  and  high,  — 

There  is  promise  in  the  sky, 
In  the  summer  land. 


On  the  heights  the  day  is  dying, 

In  the  summer  land; 
Through  the  copse  the  wind  is  sighing, 

In  the  summer  land; 
But  there's  promise  in  the  skies, 
And  I  fix  my  waiting  eyes 
Where  I've  seen  the  morning  rise. 

In  the  summer  land. 


^ibnep  ILmitx 

at 

3EUicfeingi)am  ^pringg 

N  William  Hayes  Ward's  Memorial  of 
Sidney  Lanier,  prefixed  to  the  volume 
of  Lanier's  Poems,  edited  by  Mrs.  Lanier, 
and  first  copyrighted  in  1884,  is  found  the 
following  statement: 

The  summer  of  1879  was  spent  at  Rock- 
ingham Springs,  Va.,  and  here,  in  six  weeks, 
was  begun  and  finished  his  volume,  ''Science 
of  English  Verse." 

It  is  possible,  as  will  appear  further  on, 
that  this  statement  may  need  some  qualifi- 
cation as  to  the  particular  assertion  that  the 
''Science  of  English  Verse"  was  begun  at 
Rockingham  Springs;  but  in  the  main  the 
statement  is   accurate.    The  treatise  was 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

certainly  put  in  written — perhaps  final— 
form  at  the  place  and  time  designated. 
Therefore,  in  view  of  the  interest  and  sig- 
nificance of  this  treatise,  the  growing  appre- 
ciation of  Lanier,  and  the  fact  that  nothing 
in  detail  has  yet  been  published  concerning 
the  activities  and  incidents  of  that  summer 
sojourn  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia,  the 
subjoined  account  is  offered  to  students  of 
American  literature  and  to  the  general 
reader. 

On  February  3,  1879, — the  day  Lanier 
was  thirty-seven, — he  received  a  letter  from 
President  Daniel  Coit  Oilman  notifying  him 
of  his  appointment  as  lecturer  on  English 
Literature  in  Johns  Hopkins  University. 
Such  recognition  of  his  merit  must  have 
brought  keen  joy  to  the  soul  of  the  poet  and 
scholar,  and  have  justified  the  faith  he  had 
proved  years  before  in  turning  from  the  law 

PAGE  14 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

to  letters.  The  appointment  was  not  only 
an  honor:  it  assured  him  of  the  first  definite 
income  he  had  enjoyed  since  his  marriage, 
twelve  years  before.  With  faith  justified, 
therefore,  and  with  long-cherished  hopes 
sustained,  he  must  have  gone  to  his  work 
that  year  with  strength  renewed.  In  the 
later  days  of  July,  or  the  very  first  days  of 
August,  he  quit  the  busy,  heated  city  and 
went,  with  his  wife  and  younger  children, 
to  the  quiet  and  shade  of  the  mountains. 
There  we  shall  presently  see  him,  at  his 
work,  in  his  leisure,  and  in  the  joy  of  his 
master  passion. 

Rockingham  Springs  are  located  near 
the  southwest  end  of  the  Massanutten  Moun- 
tains, a  straight  narrow  range  that  divides 
the  Shenandoah  Valley  of  Virginia  for  fifty 
miles,  beginning  abruptly  at  Strasburg  in 

PAGE  15 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

Shenandoah  County,  and  ending  just  as 
abruptly  at  Harrisonburg,  in  Rockingham 
County.  At  the  present  time  three  railroads 
make  the  Springs  easily  accessible;  but  in 
1879  there  was  only  one  railroad  through  the 
Valley,  and  the  nearest  station  to  the 
Springs  was  fifteen  miles  away.  Says  Mrs. 
Lanier : 

Our  journey  to  Rockingham  Springs  in 
1879  was  made  by  rail  to  Harrisonburg,  and 
thence  by  stage  through  McGaheysville  to 
Rockingham  Springs.^ 

A  glance  at  the  accompanying  map  will 
make  the  final  stages  of  this  notable  journey 
clear,  and  will  give  a  definite  acquaintance 
with  the  location  of  the  Springs  and  the 
places  thereabout.  Some  of  them  were 
famous  before  1879. 

1-  From  a  letter  by  Mrs.  Lanier,  dated  July  19, 
1911,  to  the  writer. 

PAGE  16 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

A  number  of  Baltimore  people  were 
accustomed  to  come  to  Rockingham  Springs 
at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  and  one  of 
the  cottages  was  called  Baltimore  House. 
In  this  cottage,  as  was  fitting,  the  Laniers 
were  given  apartments.  This  house  is  still 
standing,  and  it  remains  unchanged  in  form 
and  general  appearance;  but  surely  we  may 
take  the  liberty  now  of  changing  its  name, 
and  of  calling  it  henceforth  'Tanier  Cot- 
tage." The  quick  sentiment  of  Lanier  must 
have  responded  at  once  to  the  coincidence 
of  finding  this  quiet  little  ''Baltimore"  in 
the  wilderness,  after  he  had  left  the  big, 
noisy  Baltimore  so  far  away. 

Another  coincidence  must  have  pleased 
him:  The  owners  and  managers  of  Rock- 
ingham Springs  were  then,  and  still  are, 
Messrs.  Hopkins  &  Hopkins— Mr.  G.  T. 
Hopkins  and  his  son,  Mr.  Edwin  B.  Hopkins 

PAGE  18 


Edwin  B.  Hopkins. 
(1879) 


Gerard  T.  Hopkins. 
(1898) 


Lanier  Cottage  at  Rockingham  Springs. 


Room  in  which  Lanier  Wrote   the   "Science  of   English 
Verse."      (Right-Hand  Room  on   Ground  Floor.) 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

—distant  relatives  of  the  Hopkins  for  whom 
the  great  institution  in  Baltimore,  with 
which  Lanier  had  so  shortly  before  become 
identified,  is  named. 

Lanier,  in  his  personal  appearance  as 
well  as  in  his  habits  of  work  and  recreation, 
may  be  brought  graphically  before  us  at  this 
juncture  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Edwin  B. 
Hopkins: 

The  figure  of  Sidney  Lanier  at  the  time 
of  his  visit  to  the  Springs  would  have  at- 
tracted even  the  casual  observer.  He  was 
above  the  average  height,  wore  a  full  beard, 
and,  had  he  not  been  so  emaciated,  would 
have  been  a  man  of  very  commanding 
appearance. 

As  soon  as  he  was  settled  in  the  cottage 
(Baltimore  House)  at  the  Springs  he  in- 
quired of  me  about  a  writing  desk.  Finding 
that  we  had  nothing  suitable,  I  had  con- 
structed for  him  a  top  of  a  desk  which  fitted 
on  a  small,  four-legged  table.  He  gave  the 
necessary  directions  to  the  carpenter  him- 

PAGE  19 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

self  (as  to  the  slant,  etc.,  that  he  desired); 
and  when  completed  and  placed  on  the  table 
it  had  very  much  the  appearance  of  the  old- 
fashioned  school  teachers'  desks  found  in 
our  schools  some  forty  or  fifty  years  ago. 
It  was  upon  this  rude  structure  that  his 
famous  'Science  of  English  Verse'  was  com- 
posed in  six  weeks.  This  desk,  after  his 
departure,  I  found  pretty  well  bespattered 
with  a  blue  ink  which  he  constantly  used. 

Lanier  was  very  systematic  in  his  work, 
breakfasting  about  8:30  A.  M.,  shortly 
thereafter  retiring  to  his  apartment  to  work; 
appearing  for  dinner,  and  then  resuming  his 
writing  until  4  P.  M.,  when  he  would  ap- 
pear in  riding  costume  (a  pair  of  white  cor- 
duroy trousers  I  remember  as  a  conspicuous 
component). 

His  rides  were  upon  the  back  of  a  fa- 
mous black  Canadian  pony  that  we  owned, 
and  which  carried  him  for  miles  in  every 
direction,  radiating  from  the  Springs.  Upon 
his  return  he  would  relate  to  his  friend,  the 
artist,   John  R.  Tait,^  what  he    had  seen, 

-■  John  Robinson  Tait,  landscape  painter,  author, 

PAGE  20 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

describing  the  many  beautiful  scenes  he  had 
observed  in  the  landscape. 

The  Fischer  piano  now  at  the  Springs 
was  selected  by  Mr.  Lanier  in  Baltimore; 
and  many  were  the  evenings  that  he  would 
regale  the  assembled  company  with  his 
Brohm  flute,  while  his  wife  accompanied 
him  on  the  piano.  These  treats  were  will- 
ingly granted  whenever  he  was  waited  upon 
by  a  delegation  of  ladies  or  gentlemen;  but 
the  most  inspiring  of  all  his  music  was  pro- 
duced after  11  P.  M.,  when  everything  was 
quiet  and  every  one  supposedly  asleep.  It 
was  then  that  he  came  out  upon  the  upper 
porch  of  his  cottage  with  his  flute,  and  re- 
mained there  an  hour  or  more  improvising. 
I  can  compare  such  an  hour  to  a  description 
of  Rubenstein's  piano  playing.  This  flute 
playing  was  done  for  the   benefit  of  his 


and  critic,  was  born  in  Cincinnati  in  1834;  he  died 
July  29,  1909.  Several  of  his  paintings  were  ex- 
hibited at  Philadelphia  in  the  centennial  exposition 
of  1876. 

PAGE  21 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

lungs,   as  he  had  the  utmost  faith  in  its 
virtues. 

Mr.  Lanier  engaged  the  entire  Baltimore 
Cottage  for  himself  and  family  in  the  spring 
of  1881,  but  his  failing  health  induced  him 
to  go  to  New  York  to  consult  a  specialist  in 
lung  trouble,  who  advised  him  to  try  tent 
life  in  the  pine  woods  of  North  Carolina. 
His  wife  wrote  me  about  sending  him  the 
Black  Pony,  but  his  waning  strength  left 
him  unable  to  take  such  exercise,  and  a  few 
months  later  closed  that  useful  life;  but  not 
before  he  could  well  have  exclaimed  in  the 
language  of  Horace, 

Exegi  monumentum  acre  perennius.^ 
We  are  fortunate  in  being  able  to  intro- 
duce in  this  connection  extended  quotations 

2-  From  an  account  written  in  the  spring  of  1911 
by  Mr.  Edwin  B.  Hopkins,  for  the  Lanier  Literary 
Society,  Harrisonburg,  Va. ,  and  transmitted  to  that 
body  through  Prof.  Cornelius  J.  Heatwole.  In  the 
autumn  of  1909,  when  the  new  State  Normal 
School  opened  its  doors  at  Harrisonburg,  two  liter- 
ary societies  were  organized.  One  was  named  for 
Robert  E.  Lee,  the  other  for  Sidney  Lanier.    It 

PAGE  22 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

from  the  letter  of  Mrs.  Lanier,  written  July 
19,  1911,  to  which  reference  has  already 
been  made.  A  copy  of  Mr.  Hopkins'  letter, 
as  given  above,  having  been  submitted  to 
her,  she  wrote  (in  her  own  hand)  as  follows: 

Let  me  now  explain  that  the  Science  of 
English  Verse  was  indeed  put  on  paper  in  Mr. 
Lanier's  own  handwriting  within  six  weeks, 
at  Rockingham  Springs;  but  it  was  shaped 
from  the  material  of  the  course  of  lectures 
delivered  to  Johns  Hopkins  students  during 
the  winter  of  1878-79,  and  I  believe  it 
was  largely  the  same.  Mr.  Lanier  carried 
the  heavy  MS.  by  hand,  in  valise,  to  Balti- 
more. I  remonstrated;  but  he  solemnly  de- 
clared that  if  anjrthing  should  happen  to 
that  MS.  it  would  kill  him:  that  he  could 
never  replace  it:  meaning,  that  there  was  no 
reserve  of  life  left  from  the  task. 

I  find  my  memories  of  that  summer  very 
imperfect;  it  was  a  lull  between  storms. 

was  for  the  latter  that  Mr.  Hopkins  prepared  his 
interesting  paper. 

PAGE  23 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

But  I  am  not  the  less  persuaded  that  the 
interval  of  thirty-two  years  has— naturally 
—dimmed  at  one  point  Mr.  Hopkins'  remi- 
niscences. I  refer  to  the  midnight  flute  play- 
ing on  the  upper  porch  of  our  cottage.  I 
wonder  if  Mr.  Hopkins  may  not  have  wak- 
ened from  an  early  sleep  at  the  call  of  the 
flute,  and  drowsily  imagined  it  to  be  half- 
past  11  and  12,  when  it  was  really  much 
earlier.  It  is  always  conceivable  that  a  mu- 
sical enthusiast  may  have  once,  or  twice, 
made  such  a  lapse.  But  Mr.  Lanier  was 
rather  strict  about  his  rest  hours  in  those 
years:  his  feebleness  compelled  him  to  be  so; 
and  I  doubt  he  would  achieved  the  Science  of 
Verse  had  he  often  kept  such  hours.  In  ad- 
dition to  his  makeup  of  physique,  his 
strength  of  sympathy  and  consideration  for 
others  prevent  me  from  thinking  that  I 
have  merely  forgotten  the  facts. 

The  flute  he  played  was  a  Boehm  flute; 
the  name  is  incorrectly  given.  And— unim- 
portant as  it  sounds— those  'corduroy  riding 
trousers'  were  not  'white,'  but  the  dull  tone 

PAGE  24 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

of  very  light  tan  that  is  not  unHke  wrap- 
ping paper. 

Again:  it  is  true  that  he  found  the  deep 
and  equable  inspirations  of  the  flute  valu- 
able, life-giving;  but  he  had  nothing  of  the 
sort  in  mind  in  giving  himself  to  that  in- 
strument, v/hich,  indeed,  he  began  in  child- 
hood. The  violin  was  his  choice,  and  his 
father  would  not  countenance  the  violin,  but 
sanctioned  the  flute  as  less  absorbing  and 
distracting— and  bohemian!  After  he  be- 
came old  enough  to  choose  his  course,  he 
was  too  old  to  become  an  artist  on  the  most 
exacting  of  instruments,— and  he  had  the 
mastery  of  the  flute,  and  had  learned  to 
love  it  well:  as  he  loved  everything  musical. 

No  attempt  to  harmonize  or  explain 
away  the  differences  of  detail  between  the 
two  foregoing  accounts,  by  Mr.  Hopkins  and 
Mrs.  Lanier  respectively,  is  deemed  neces- 
sary. The  general  agreement  is  complete. 
Naturally  Mrs.  Lanier  would  think  of  the 
consideration  the  musician    always    mani- 

PAGE  25 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

fested  for  the  rights— even  the  dream  and 
slumber  rights — of  others;  and  just  as  nat- 
urally Mr.  Hopkins,  who  was  one  of  those 
enjoying  the  music,  would  think  of  what  a 
splendid  thing  midnight  flute-playing,  by 
Sidney  Lanier,  really  was.  To  be  sure,  Mrs. 
Lanier  could  not  be  mistaken  about  the 
color  of  the  riding  costume — Mr.  Hopkins 
must  yield  unreservedly  on  that  point;  that 
he  will  yield  thus,  and  gracefully  too,  I 
have  no  doubt. 

In  one  particular  statement  Mrs.  Lanier 
seems  to  be  slightly  in  error.  Lanier's  ap- 
pointment to  the  lectureship  at  Johns  Hop- 
kins did  not  come  till  February,  1879,  and 
his  first  lectures  in  that  institution  v/ere  not 
actually  delivered  till  the  autumn  following. 
These  facts  are  set  forth  in  the  subjoined 
letter. 

PAGE  26 


^^^1 

Ih 

ii 

3J 

V 

^H 
^^H 

Port  Republic  Battlefield. 


Scene  on  Shenandoah  River. 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

The  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
Baltimore,  Md. 

January  3,  1912. 

Dear  Sir:— 

Sidney  Lanier  was  appointed  lecturer 
in  English  Literature  in  this  University  February 
3rd.,  1879,  and  he  gave  his  first  course  of  lectures 
the  following  autumn.  This  consisted  of  sixteen 
lectures  on  "English  Verse,  especially  Shakes- 
peare," and  began  October  28th.  The  following 
year  he  gave  twelve  lectures  on  the  '  'Development 
of  the  Modern  English  Novel,"  beginning  January 
26th.,  1881.  He  did  not  lecture  in  the  University 
prior  to  February  3,  1879. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)    T.  R.  Ball, 

Registrar. 
Mr.  John  W.  Wayland, 
Harrisonburg,  Va. 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  letter 

that  the  lectures  of  1878-79,  to  which  Mrs, 

Lanier  refers,  were  not  delivered  to  Johns 

Hopkins   students,  as   such.      They   were 

probably  delivered  to  classes  that  the  poet 

had  at  various  places  in  Baltimore  from  time 

to  time  preceding  his  connection  with  the 

page  27 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

University.  Doubtless  his  midsummer  exer- 
tions at  Rockingham  Springs  were  stimulated 
throughout  by  his  plans  for  inaugurating  his 
university  courses,  to  which  he  was  looking 
forward  with  eager  anticipation.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  a  long  letter  that  he 
wrote  to  President  Oilman,  from  180  St. 
Paul  Street,  Baltimore,  on  the  13th  of  July, 
1879,  is  apropos. 

I  have  nearly  completed  three  works 
which  are  addressed  to  the  practical  accom- 
plishment of  the  object  named  ['of  making  a 
finer  fiber  for  all  our  young  American  man- 
hood by  leading  our  youth  in  proper  relations 
with  English  poetry'],  by  supplying  a  wholly 
different  method  of  study  from  that  mis- 
chievous one  which  has  generally  arisen  from 
a  wholly  mistaken  use  of  the  numerous  'Man- 
uals' of  English  literature.  These  works  are 
my  three  textbooks:  (1)  'The  Science  of  Eng- 
lish Verse,'  .  .  .  (2)  'From  Caedmon  to 
Chaucer,'  ...  (3)  my  'Chaucer.'  .  .  . 
I  am  going  to  print  these  books  and  sell  them 

PAGE  28 


Port  Republic  Bridge. 


Stonewall  Jackson's  Headquarters  at  Elkton. 


Port  Republic      Confluence  of  the  Rivers,  the  Bridge,  and  the  Heights  toward  Cross  Keys. 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

myself,  ...  I  have  been  working  on 
them  for  two  months;  in  two  more  they  will 
be  finished;  and  by  the  middle  of  November 
I  hope  to  have  them  ready  for  use  as 
textbooks.* 

This  letter  evidently  was  written  with  the 
work  at  Johns  Hopkins  still  in  prospect,  but 
near  at  hand.    Also,  it  was  written  only  a 
few  days  before  the  Laniers  left  Baltimore 
for  Rockingham  Springs.     The  six  weeks  at 
the  Springs,  therefore,  covering  the  period 
from  late  July  to  early  September,  made  up 
most  of  the  ''two  more"  months  in  which  the 
three  books  were  to  be   finished,   and  in 
which,   as  already  seen,   the    ''Science  of 
English  Verse"  was  finished.    Accordingly, 
when  Lanier  came  to  the  Springs  he  must 
have  had  in  mind  or  in  hand,  probably  in 
more  or  less  fragmentary  notes,  the  bulk  of 

4- See  Edwin    Mims'    "Sidney    Lanier",   pages 
255,  256. 

PAGE  29 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

the  matter  used  in  the  ''Science  of  Verse"; 
but  in  the  six  weeks  spent  there  he  wrote 
out  the  complete  manuscript,  as  he  carried  it 
back  to  Baltimore  and  to  his  university 
classes, — and  probably  as  it  went  into  the 
hands  of  the  printers  a  year  or  two  later. 

How  far  into  the  country  surrounding  the 
Springs  Lanier's  frequent  horseback  rides 
took  him,  we  cannot  exactly  determine;  but 
Mr.  Hopkins  says  that  he  went  out  for 
miles  in  every  direction. 

As  already  observed,  some  of  the  par- 
ticular localities  in  the  adjacent  sections 
were  really  famous,  and  many  others  were 
interesting  because  of  Nature's  magic  touch 
or  cherished  association  with  notable  deeds 
and  men.  Twelve  miles  southwest  from  the 
Springs  are  the  Grottoes  of  the  Shenan- 
doah— Weyer's  Cave  and  connected  caves — 
and  only  a  little  farther  in  the  opposite 

PAGE  30 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

direction  are  the  caverns  of  Luray.^  The 
Peak  of  the  Massanutten  Mountain,  rugged 
and  abrupt,  and,  from  the  east  side,  bearing 
more  than  a  fancied  resemblance  to  the  rock 
of  Gibraltar,  towers  above  the  Springs  and 
covers  them  with  its  afternoon  shadows. 
The  Kettle,  enclosed  by  the  horseshoe  ridge 
of  the  Peak,  is  a  remarkable  natural  feature; 
and  just  back  of  the  Lanier  Cottage,  only  a 
few  hundred  yards  distant  and  in  plain 
sight,  is  White  Rock.  This  is  a  high  cliff, 
with  broad  gray  face,  and  can  be  plainly 
seen  for  miles  along  the  Chesapeake-Western 
and  the  Norfolk- Western  railways,  passing 
Elkton  and  McGaheysville. 

Across  the  Massanutten,  near  Linville,  is 

^-  Massanutta  Cave,  only  four  miles  southwest  of 
Rockingham  Springs,  was  not  discovered  till  about 
1893;  the  New  Market  Endless  Caverns,  fifteen 
miles  north,  were  discovered  in  1879— the  same 
year  that  Lanier  was  in  the  Valley. 

PAGE  31 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

the  old  Lincoln  homestead,  whence  the 
President's  ancestor  emigrated  to  Kentucky 
in  1782.  Much  nearer  are  several  places 
famous  from  the  Civil  War:  A  wooded  hill 
near  Harrisonburg  where  the  Confederate 
general,  Turner  Ashby,  was  killed,  and  the 
Federal  general,  Thomas  L.  Kane,  brother 
to  the  arctic  explorer,  was  wounded  and 
captured  in  a  sharp  fight  the  evening  of 
June  6,  1862;  rolling  fields  and  woodlands, 
six  miles  south,  about  Cross  Keys,  where 
two  days  later  Fremont  and  Ewell  fought; 
and,  a  few  miles  further  south,  the  broad 
river  flats  near  Port  Republic,  where  Shields 
and  Jackson  strove  in  fierce  conflict,  June  the 
9th.  In  1865  Lanier  had  written  his  splendid 
verses  on  'The  Dying  Words  of  Stonewall 
Jackson";  and  it  is  inconceivable  that  he 
should  not  have  been  stirred  again  in  spirit 
as  he  looked  down  upon  the  ground  where 

PAGE  32 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

the  grim,  silent  chieftain  had  wound  up  the 
Valley  campaign  in  that  brilliant  climax  of 
strategy  and  hard  fighting. 

Almost  opposite  the  Springs  is  the  gap  in 
the  Blue  Ridge— Swift  Run  Gap— through 
which  Jackson  had  led  his  army  eastward 
toward  Richmond,  and  through  which,  a 
century  and  a  half  before,  Governor  Alex- 
ander Spotswood  had  led  westward  into  the 
Valley  the  first  exploring  expedition,  com- 
memorated in  the  celebrated  order,  *  'Knights 
of  the  Horseshoe."  It  was  probably  through 
this  very  gap  that  Lanier  himself  went,  on 
one  of  his  rides  longer  than  the  rest,  about 
the  end  of  September.  To  this  ride  Mrs. 
Lanier  makes  the  following  interesting 
reference: 

We  went  to  Rockingham  Springs  with 
Sidney,  aged  8  years  and  9  months,  and 
Harry,  5  years  old.    Late  in  our  visit  Mr. 

PAGE  33 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

Lanier  went  on  horseback  over  the  moun- 
tains to  Rapidan  Station  [in  Culpeper 
County]  for  our  eldest  son  Charles,  who  was 
very  near  his  11th  birthday;  and  they  rode 
back  to  Rockingham  on  horseback — a  very 
beautiful  journey.^ 

It  appears  that  occasionally — perhaps 
frequently — Lanier  was  not  alone  on  his 
excursions  into  the  country  surrounding  the 
Springs,  and  we  are  fortunate  in  being  able 
to  catch  an  intimate  glimpse  of  him  as  one 
Oi  a  party  of  four.  Mrs.  J.  L.  Conn  of 
McGaheysville  remembers  the  family  group 
well,  as  she  frequently  saw  it, — "Mrs.  La- 
nier and  the  two  little  boys  riding  the  black 
pony,  while  Lanier  himself  walked  along 
with  his  hand  on  the  pony's  neck  as  he 
pointed  out  some  bit  of  beautiful  land- 
scape."^ 

6-  Mrs.  Lanier's  letter  of  July  19,  1911. 
^-  Letter  of  August  28,  1911,  to  the  writer,   from 
Miss  Ruth  Conn,  McGaheysville,  Va. 

PAGE  34 


The  Lanier  Willows,   McGaheysville.     Two  Views. 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

Mrs.  Conn's  recollections  of  Lanier  are 
continued  in  the  following  interesting  strain : 

You  remember  the  little  stream  [Stony 
Run]  that  runs  through  the  centre  of  the 
village  [McGaheysville]:  its  banks  are  lined 
with  big  willows,  and  Lanier  thought  it  one 
of  the  prettiest  rural  spots  he  had  ever  seen. 
He  would  come  down  in  the  mornings  and 
sketch  it  from  the  bridge,  while  Mrs.  Lanier 
held  an  umbrella  over  him,  or  talked  to  the 
girls  of  the  village  who  came  to  watch  him. 
He  liked  to  have  them  come,  and  was  careful 
to  explain  anything  they  wished  to  know. 
He  sketched  two  pictures,  one  looking  up, 
and  one  looking  down  the  stream,  and  I 
think  afterwards  painted  them. 

He,  too,  very  much  admired  our  Peak 
and  the  mountains  around  it,  and  once  said 
that  Switzerland  was  no  fairer  than  the 
Valley  of  Virginia. 

At  the  Springs  was  an  attractive  little 
girl  named  Bessie  Long.  With  autograph 
album  in  hand  she  went  from  one  to  another 
of  the  gentlemen  guests,  earnestly  soliciting 

PAGE  35 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

contributions:  'Tlease,  sir,"  she  would  say, 
*'a  line  or  two  and  your  name."  When  she 
came  to  Lanier  he  took  the  little  book,  and, 
without  a  moment's  hesitation  wrote: 

Man  wants  but  little  here  below,  but 
wants  that  little  Long. 

We  may  be  sure  that  Miss  Long  has  ever 
since  counted  that  autograph  album  as  one 
among  her  dearest  treasures.  Writing  from 
Baltimore  under  date  of  March  22,  1912, 
she  says: 

It  was  our  custom  to  spend  our  summers 
in  Virginia,  and  several  of  them  were  spent 
at  Rockingham  Springs.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lanier  were  there  [in  1879],  and  I  remember 
he  used  to  take  me  out  riding,  putting  me 
up  on  the  horse  in  front  of  him.  His  two 
little  boys,  Sidney  and  Hal,  were  my  chums. 
.     .     .     Mr.  Lanier  did  write  in  my  album. 

Miss  Long  then  repeats  the  lines  written, 

as  they  have  already  been  given  above. 

Searching  the  files   of   the  Rockingham 

PAGE  36 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

Register,  a  weekly  newspaper  published  at 
Harrisonburg,  to  see  whether  they  might 
contain  some  reference  to  Lanier,  I  was 
rewarded  in  finding  the  following  communi- 
cation: 

Tournament  at  Rockingham  Springs. 

McGaheysville,  Va.,  Aug.  8th,  1879. 

Editors  Register:— The  tournament  came  off 
at  this  place  to-day  and  was  a  success. 
Thirteen  knights  entered  the  lists.  About 
eleven  A.  M.  the  mounted  knights,  under 
command  of  Chief  Marshal  Bowcock, 
formed  a  line  in  front  of  the  portico  of  one 
of  the  cottages,  from  the  steps  of  which  an 
eloquent  and  appropriate  address  (as  a 
charge  to  the  knights)  was  delivered  by  Mr. 
Lanier,  of  Baltimore.  The  rules  of  the 
Tourney  were  then  read  by  one  of  the 
judges,  after  which  the  company  of  knights 
filed  to  the  left  and  marched  to  the  ground, 
where  the  tilting  soon  began.  An  elegant 
track  has  been  prepared  (along  which  three 
ring  posts  had  been  planted,  about  fifty  feet 

PAGE   37 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

apart)  just  between  and  a  little  below  the 
building  and  the  springs.  The  tilting  began, 
witnessed  by  a  large  concourse  of  spectators, 
from  whom  shouts  of  acclamation  arose 
whenever  a  gallant  knight  took  three  rings 
at  one  ride,  which  was  frequently  done. 
The  riding  was  splendid. 

The  following  were  the  successful  knights : 
1st.  Mr.   Thomas  Kyger,  who  selected 
Miss  Minnie  Bowcock  as  Queen  of  Love  and 
Beauty. 

2nd.  Mr.  Frank  Life,  who  selected  Miss 
Cornelia  Bonds  as  First  Maid  of  Honor. 

3rd.  Mr.  Wm.  Yancey,  who  selected  Miss 
Emma  Yancey  as  Second  Maid  of  Honor. 

4th.  Mr.  Thomas  Yancey,  who  selected 
Miss  T.  Shipp,  of  Stanardsville,  as  Third 
Maid  of  Honor. 

The  successful  Knight  was  also  presented 
with  an  elegant  silver  cup,  in  addition  to  the 
honor  of  crowning  the  Queen. 

An  adjournment  was  then  taken  until 
2  1-2  P.  M.,  at  which  hour  the  coronation 
and  presentation  of  the  prizes  took  place, 
upon  a  platform  in  the  grove,  in  the  presence 

PAGE  38 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

of  a  large  crowd,  after  which  the  royal 
party  led  off  in  the  dance  to  the  sweet  music 
of  Almond's  String  Band,  which  exercise  is 
going  on  at  this  writing. 

Everything  passed  off  pleasantly,  and 
seemed  to  be  enjoyed  by  all. 

There  are  about  forty  resident  guests, 
besides  a  number  of  transient  visitors  at  this 
health-giving  resort.  W.^ 

The  first  time  I  went  to  Rockingham 
Springs  gathering  facts  connected  with 
Lanier's  sojourn  there,  I  was  fortunate 
enough  to  have  as  a  companion  and  guide 
Mr.  Edwin  B.  Hopkins  himself.  We  drove 
in  the  three  miles  from  McGaheysville,  along 
country  lanes  bordered  with  meadows, 
orchards,  and  patches  of  woodland,  past 
''Bonny  Brook,"  over  the  little  hills  and 
across  the  hollows,  into  the  foothills  of  the 
Massanutten. 

On  top  of  a  hill  somewhat  higher  than 

^-  From  the  Rockingham  Register  of  August  14, 1879. 
PAGE  39 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

the  rest,  with  the  view  open  far  to  the  east- 
ward, Mr.  Hopkins  stopped  the  horse  and 
said: 

''Mr.  Lanier  frequently  came  here  on  the 
Black  Pony.  This  was  one  of  the  landscape 
views  that  specially  attracted  him." 

I  got  out  of  the  buggy  to  take  a  good 
look  around,  and  to  get  a  photograph. 

Two  miles  westward  the  jagged  side  of 
the  Massanutten  rose  in  a  long  serrated  ridge, 
while  out  from  its  base,  through  the  wooded 
hills,  the  road  came  winding  from  the 
Springs.  Ten  miles  eastward  the  long  bil- 
lowy line  of  the  Blue  Ridge  thrust  itself  far 
up  into  the  fairer  blue  of  the  morning  sky. 
High  up  on  the  rugged  slope  of  the  moun- 
tain, not  far  from  the  Swift  Run  Gap  road, 
the  practiced  eye  could  discern  the  white 
spray  of  Cedar  Bluff  Falls.  Between  the 
hill  where  we  stood  and  the  distant  summits 

PAGE  40 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

stretched  the  broad  plains  of  the  Shenandoah 
River— * 'The  Euphrates"  Spots  wood  and  his 
companions  called  it  when  they  looked  upon 
it  at  the  selfsame  place  in  1716.  In  the 
midst  of  the  plain  the  white  houses  and 
glittering  roofs  of  Elkton  cast  upward  the 
slanting  rays  of  the  sun,  while  on  all  the 
surrounding  hills  the  dark  green  cones  of  the 
pine  and  cedar  trees  rose  up  in  stately 
symmetry  among  the  less  regular  outlines  of 
the  oaks,  chestnuts,  poplars,  and  hickories. 

When  we  had  followed  the  road  in  nearly 
to  the  Springs  I  turned  and  looked  again 
eastward,  down  the  long  vista  of  the  en- 
croaching hills,  and  I  could  still  see  an 
irregular  panel  of  the  distant  blue  mountain, 
with  the  blue  sky  above  it. 

Mr.  Hopkins  drew  up  in  front  of  a  small 
house. 

PAGE  41 


SIDNEY  LANIER 

''This,"  said  I,  ''is  Lanier's  cottage,  I 
suppose." 

"No;  this  is  the  one  from  the  veranda 
of  which  he  delivered  the  charge  to  the 
knights  in  the  tournament." 

I  wondered  how  many  of  those  young 
fellows  of  1879,  as  they  sat  their  horses  and 
shot  sidelong  glances  at  the  girls  they  hoped 
to  crown,  had  realized  what  a  far-sounding 
voice  was  speaking  to  them,  bringing  them 
face  to  face  with  a  chivalrous  past  in 
the  need  of  the  calling  future.  As  for  La- 
nier himself,  I  imagine  he  must  have 
thought,  for  one  thing,  of  the  stirring  lines 
he  had  written  in  "The  Tournament"  a 
dozen  years  before: 

Bright  shone  the  lists,  blue  bent  the  skies, 
And  the  knights  still  hurried  amain 

To  the  tournament  under  the  ladies'  eyes. 
Where  the  j ousters  were  Heart  and  Brain. 

A  hundred  yards  farther  on  we  came 

PAGE  42 


Rockingham  Springs  in  Twilight. 


The  Lanier  Pine. 


AT  ROCKINGHAM  SPRINGS 

to  Baltimore  House — Lanier  Cottage.  I 
walked  around  it,  looking  at  it  from  all 
sides;  then  I  went  into  the  little  room,  off 
the  northeast  end  of  the  lower  porch,  where 
the  ''Science  of  English  Verse"  was  written; 
finally  I  went  upstairs  and  out  on  the  upper 
porch,  where  the  witching  notes  of  the  flute 
had  wooed  the  soft  echoes  of  night. 

Out  just  a  few  yards  from  the  spot  where 
the  musician  sat  is  a  big,  beautiful  white 
pine.  I  could  almost  imagine  the  poet- 
player's  soul,  as  his  music  sprang  out  and 
upward  toward  the  stars,  meeting  a  sort  of 
oracular  response  in  the  whispering  needles 
of  the  pine,  as  the  nightwind  from  the 
mountain  rustled  gently  through  them;  for 
''in  his  hands  the  flute,"  as  said  his  director 
in  the  Peabody  Symphony  Orchestra,  "no 
longer  remained  a  mere  material  instru- 
ment, but  was  transformed  into  a  voice  that 
set  heavenly  harmonies  into  vibration. " 

PAGE  43 


SIDNEY  LANIER 


Lines  by  Miss  Ruth  Conn,  of  Rockingham 
County,  Virginia,  Dedicated  to  the  Lanier  Literary 
Society,  whose  hall  is  almost  in  sight  of  Rocking- 
ham Springs 


tr 


HOUGH  Lanier  is  sleeping  calmly 

Where  doth  sigh  the  Southern  pine, 
Still  he  lives— his  hallowed  memory 

Makes  each  heart  a  sacred  shrine. 
Scholar,  soldier,  knight,  musician,— 

Best  of  all  we  love  him  still 
For  the  magic  of  his  singing. 

That  can  sway  our  souls  at  will. 

Song  to  him  was  only  living, 

All  his  work  a  mighty  psalm 
Offered  up  in  purest  worship, 

Pain  and  rapture,  storm  and  calm. 
May  the  spirit  that  upheld  him 

Guide  our  faltering  footsteps  too, 
And  the  words  that  he  has  spoken 

Keep  our  aims  and  purpose  true! 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


m  20  >«^^^ 

■'  fif-     t  /     J- 

^-  -     1^  ^ioQ 

LD  21-100m-8,'34 

J 


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